


Puis il y Avait Quatre

by DoesEulerDreamofComplexSheep



Series: Of Gingers and Giants [2]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:39:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25117027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoesEulerDreamofComplexSheep/pseuds/DoesEulerDreamofComplexSheep
Summary: Chloe has a confession to make, and it isn't what Emily is expecting.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell, Chloe Beale/Emily Junk
Series: Of Gingers and Giants [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1822036
Comments: 7
Kudos: 18





	Puis il y Avait Quatre

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to lastchildofkrypton acting as a second set of eyes.
> 
> As always, I don't own the IP.

Emily sighed as she trudged up the last flight of stairs to the apartment she shared with her girlfriend, Chloe. She had moved into Chloe's comfortable two bedroom after the two had been dating for a little less than a year. It was a nice place in a fairly quiet part of Brooklyn, and Emily loved the neighborhood for the lovely park nearby. It was only two blocks and about a five-minute walk for her and her Shiba Inu, Yoru, to enjoy a little play time in. It wasn't always easy having such an active breed in the city, but Emily loved him almost as much as she loved Chloe and wouldn't give him up for anything. Unfortunately, the apartment was on the sixth floor in a building where the elevator was working about as frequently as her students begged for more homework. At the end of a long day those stairs were murder, even if her legs were in the best shape of her life.

Reaching her door she carefully juggled the myriad of bags she had brought home from the college as she tried to pull her keys out of her bag, which seemed to take delight in hiding things when she needed them most. After a few excruciating moments of fishing blindly through compacts and day planners and whatever other anthropological relics of ancient civilizations her purse always seemed to collect her fingertips finally brushed cold metal.

She tugged them into her grasp and was rewarded with the telltale jangle just as she thought her wrist was going to give out from holding her bag at such an awkward angle. She worked the tangled mess out and quickly slid her door key into the lock, letting out a small shriek of protest as her bag started to slip. She caught it, thankfully, and let herself through the door as it swung into the apartment, dropping the messy bundle in her arms onto the couch before going back to close and lock the door. 

She looked over her shoulder and caught sight of Chloe moving through the kitchen, steam bubbling from the stove as she worked. Emily inhaled, and couldn't help but moan as she the strong scent of turmeric and the tangy-sweet smell of tomatoes filled her nose. Chloe had her speakers turned up and hadn't heard her come in, so Emily carefully crept up behind her, careful to avoid the parts of the floor she knew would squeak. She made it to the kitchen with Chloe still none the wiser.

"Whatcha cookin' hot stuff?" Emily said, purposely projecting her voice for maximum effect. 

The result was both dramatic and immediate. Chloe stood up so straight she literally jumped in place and let out a startled shriek, twisting to look behind her as she came back to the floor. Her shoulders slumped as she registered that it was Emily and not an intruder, but her breath was heaving from the massive rush of adrenaline that her body had released, and Chloe pressed her palm flat against her chest as she willed her heart rate to return to normal.

"Emily Carson Junk, are you trying to kill me?!" she shouted after drawing in a few ragged breaths.

Emily let out a loud guffaw which quickly withered to a stream of giggles as she doubled over at her prank. As Chloe's chastising glare grew in intensity, so did Emily's laughter, and soon she was wiping tears out of the corners of her eyes and struggling for breath. Finally, Chloe crossed her arms in a defiant pout and marched out of the room. Emily quickly forced herself to regain her composure and followed after Chloe, finding the redhead sitting on her bed with a very perturbed expression still holding vigil on her face.

"I'm sorry I scared you honey."

Chloe's nose turned up slightly and she refused to look Emily in the eye. The brunette was pretty sure her girlfriend wasn't actually that upset, but she sat quietly on the bed, watching Chloe and waiting for her to say something.

"Some thanks I get for trying to make you homemade makhani."

Emily couldn't hide her smile at the little huff Chloe let out as she finished her complaint. Emily leaned into the shorter girl, wrapping one long arm around Chloe's shoulder and kissing the soft auburn hair. She loved Chloe's smell; that vibrant medley of kiwis and strawberries, evident even through the heady smell of curry that had followed her from the kitchen. Emily let her smile rest against Chloe's shoulder. As she did, however, she noticed a box of her favorite chocolates on the bedside stand and the gears in her head began turning.

"Chlo." she said softly, her word hanging as she waited for the shorter redhead to acknowledge her.

Chloe's eyes met hers, and Emily could see the nervous expression hiding beneath the mock annoyance.

"What's going on?"

"Well you scared me and kept laughing so I came in here to get away from you. For all the good it did." Chloe grumbled playfully, but Emily could tell her smile wasn't reaching her girlfriend's eyes.

Emily shook her head, feeling her impatience starting to swell.

"That's not what I mean. You're cooking my favorite curry; those are my favorite chocolates..." Emily trailed off and left Chloe to finish the thought on her own.

"Can't I dote on the woman I love?"

Emily tilted her head as she scowled, the disbelief in her body language unmistakable. Chloe sighed, her hands nervously flattening the bottom of her shirt against her body.

"Why is that so hard to believe? I do nice things for you all the time!"

"I know you do baby, but it's usually doing my laundry for me, or remembering to get the wine I like even though you don't like the finish. I don't even think you made me dinner and bought me chocolates for our anniversary."

"I so totes have! I make you dinner at least-" Chloe paused, and her eyes rolled up toward the ceiling as she tried to remember the last time she had cooked for Emily.

"Chlo." Emily repeated, unable to hide the note of concern creeping into her voice with her interruption.

"Okay, fine. I have something I need to tell you." Chloe began.

"Okay."

"So I was talking to someone last week, and an opportunity for something really amazing came up." she continued, picking up Emily's hands and holding them in hers as she spoke.

"Now, this will seem like kind of a big thing, and I know I should have talked to you about it first," she said, her eyes flashing guiltily, "but I just had to follow me heart and-"

Emily groaned, cutting off Chloe, who looked at the brunette, startled at her interruption.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed, standing up from the bed, running her fingers through her long brown hair.

"Wait, you did? How did you-"

Chloe gave up as Emily kept speaking, her long legs carrying her around the room in a disorganized loop.

"You're moving to France!"

Chloe's eyes bugged, and she was speechless as she struggled to process Emily's frantic rant even as she plowed on, her words coming faster and faster.

"You're moving to France." Emily repeated, nodding knowingly. "What am I supposed to do? I mean, I don't even know if I can teach in France! Like, do they accept my doctorate? I don't know!"

"Em.

"I've never thought about moving somewhere like that, and you know me, I don't like cheese enough to live in France!"

"Em." Chloe tried again, raising her voice slightly, but Emily was completely freaking out and didn't even hear her speaking.

What about Yoru? What if he doesn't like French men? They're really different than Americans, and you know he can get scared by guys with beards, and... and-"

Emily had been pacing back and forth, her hands now fully tangled in the long brown tresses that she kept trying to sweep out the way, only for them to fall over her eyes as she shook her head animatedly with her words. She finally stopped and whirled back to face Chloe after pausing to breathe. 

"Chloe, I don't even speak French!"

Chloe simply stared, waiting a beat to see if her girlfriend was finally finished.

"Emily, I'm not moving to France."

Emily looked down, suddenly registering the absolute look of confusion and shock on her Chloe's face.

"You're not?" she said meekly.

Chloe shook her head, reaching her hand up and taking Emily's gently, pulling her down beside her. The brunette sat down and let herself take a deep breath as she let herself sit, focusing on the comfort of Chloe's touch. The simple weight of Chloe's hand on hers slowed the spiral of thoughts swirling in her head. 

"Emily, baby, why on _earth_ would I move to France?" she asked.

Emily looked down at her hands for a moment before returning her eyes to Chloe's.

"Well you had told me you had a work lunch with that French guy last week, and I had wondered what that was about. So, when you said you had talked to someone about a big opportunity I got scared because what if you wanted to move?" Emily said softly.

Chloe thought for a moment, then she suddenly realized what Emily had meant.

"Do you mean Jean-Francois?!" Chloe exclaimed.

Emily simply nodded. Chloe let out a giggle, prompting a puzzled look from Emily.

"I think so."

"Em, Jean-Francois isn't French."

"But -" Emily stopped herself, and visibly deflated.

Chloe shook her head, a kind smile playing across her lips.

"He lives in Philly, hon. His father was French-Canadian. We went to school together at Cornell." Chloe offered. "He wanted to ask me about my hiring process for techs because he's had trouble finding good ones."

Emily's cheeks blushed red and she hid her head in her palms. 

"Oh my God. Amy's right, I'm so dumb."

Her words were muffled and tinny within her hands. Chloe gave her a gentle slap on the shoulder.

"Don't say that about yourself, you're not dumb, and Amy's just mean." Chloe chided. 

"Well what was it you needed-" Emily stopped, a panicked look sweeping through her eyes. "Oh my God, where's Yoru! Is he ok?"

Emily spun, looking around the room as she realized Yoru hadn't greeted her at the door. She felt a pang of guilt squeeze her chest over not thinking of it earlier. 

"Yoru is fine Em." Chloe said, rolling her eyes at Emily's penchant for freaking herself out.

"He's in the office."

Chloe gestured toward the wall adjacent to the bedroom door, which was shared with the spare bedroom they had set up as a home office for Emily to work from. Emily looked back to Chloe, relief and confusion written on her face. 

"Why is he in there?"

Chloe said nothing, instead she stood up and offered her hand. Emily took it, confused, and allowed the redhead to lead her into the living room, toward the office. Emily stood, still unsure, as Chloe twisted the knob and swung it inward. As soon as the door swung open, out trotted Yoru, his nose hovering over the floor as he sniffed his way to Emily. He sniffed rapidly as he approached, taking in the day's scent that wafted off her legs.

A few moments later Emily heard another patter and she looked up in time to see a corgi come striding out in Yoru's wake. It was a Pembroke welsh, its fur almost the same color as Yoru's but just a little darker. Its tiny legs worked fast as it tried to catch up to Yoru, then it stopped in its tracks as it spotted Emily. It tensed slightly, not looking aggressive, but letting out an alarmed yelp. It looked to Chloe, then back at Emily before sitting down where it stood, as if it was unsure how it felt about the taller woman.

"Emily, meet Rosie."

Emily looked at Chloe, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Are you mad?"

Emily looked at the puppy then back at Chloe, and Chloe's meaning clicked in her head.

"Do you mean she's yours?"

Chloe nodded, holding her breath as she tried to read Emily's reaction.

"Well, I mean, ours. I hope."

Emily listened quietly, not wanting to have a third misunderstanding because of her knack for jumping to conclusions.

"I've been her vet since her owner, Mrs. Williams, got her six years ago. But Mariah had a stroke last year and she's moving into an assisted living facility because she doesn't feel comfortable on her own."

Chloe gestured to the happy looking dog who was scratching behind her ear with her hind leg.

"She couldn't afford the crazy fees they wanted for her to keep Rosie, so she asked if I knew anyone who would give her a good home."

Both women watched the dog while she was focused on Yoru. He came closer to her, each dog regarding the other placidly.

"Rosie's always been such a sweetheart, and I knew she got along with Yoru - they'd met one of the times he was in the clinic with me. I couldn't imagine her going anywhere else."

Chloe waited, silent. She was truly nervous about Emily's reaction. She knew she should have asked first, but the facility that Mariah was moving into had gotten a sudden opening and she had called Chloe at the beginning of the week, frantic, and Chloe had blurted out her answer on the phone. Emily squatted low, her legs resting on her heels and she held her hand out toward Rosie. 

The dog stood up and tentatively approached, it's fluffy rump wiggling as it walked. She paused several times as she considered whether Chloe looked trustworthy. After nearly a minute Emily felt the cold damp nub of her nose bump into her hand, and Rosie gave an approving lick to her pinky. Emily's face broke into an enormous smile, and she gently rubbed the fur behind Rosie's ear as the tiny dog plopped onto the wood floor next to Emily.

"Oh she's a sweetie." Emily said, her voice soft as if she was talking to the dog despite her eyes locking with Chloe's.

"You're not mad?" Chloe asked. Emily smiled at her, shaking her head.

"No, not mad. I wish you had warned me, especially so I wouldn't have made such an ass of myself." She replied, her eyes back on Rosie.

Chloe let out a sigh of relief, and both dogs looked up at the sound of her breath unwinding. Emily giggled lightly at the two of them.

"So," Emily said, letting her fingers run through the soft fur under the corgi's chin. "Rosie, huh?"

"Yeah. We could try to change it, but she's used to it and..." Emily looked up as Chloe's voice trailed off. She perked her eyebrows up, wondering what Chloe was thinking.

"her personality sort of reminds me of Beca. And Rosie Cotton was the only lady hobbit" Chloe finished.

Emily smiled, nodding at the description.

Emily rolled her eyes but couldn't stop herself from chuckling when Rosie let out a bark and an offended whine when she heard the word hobbit. She shook her head even as Rosie growled unconvincingly, and Chloe joined her in a fit of giggles. Rosie lay down, a quick derisive snort hitting Emily's leg as the dog let her chin rest on the floor.

"Oh yeah," Emily said, meeting Chloe's eyes again. "That fits."

Chloe sat on the arm of the couch, relieved, and watched as Emily continued to pet Rosie even as Yoru sat down alongside the smaller dog, curling up so he was nestled into his owner and his new sister. Chloe dropped herself onto the floor, letting each of her legs stretch out around Emily's hips, and grinned as the taller woman leaned back into her with a sigh. She kept absentmindedly rubbing Rosie's coat.

"Chlo?"

Chloe hummed in reply, wrapping her arms around Emily's shoulders.

"Can you not surprise me like this anymore? I tend to freak out a little bit."

Chloe giggled at the understatement but nodded regardless. She planted a small kiss on Emily's shoulder, and considered how impossibly lucky she was to get to share that moment, and not for the first time Chloe realized she knew exactly how she wanted to spend the rest of her days.


End file.
